Delhi govt sets up panel to ensure hospitals' preparedness amid battle against COVID

 A five-member committee has been constituted by the Delhi government for healthcare infrastructure augmentation and strengthen overall preparedness of hospitals to battle COVID-19, officials said. The order to set up the panel was issued on Tuesday, the day Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike of 1,298 coronavirus cases.

The committee will guide the Delhi government on healthcare infrastructure augmentation and strengthen overall preparedness of hospitals to battle COVID-19, it said. It will also guide the government on any other area where strengthening of infrastructure is required to better manage the pandemic in Delhi. The panel has been directed to submit its report by June 6, the order said. 

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The members include Dr Mahesh Verma, Vice-Chancellor of IP University; Dr Sunil Kumar, Medical Director of GTB Hospital; Dr Arun Gupta, president of Delhi Medical Council; Dr R K Gupta, former president of Delhi Medical Association; and Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director, Max Hospital, the order said.

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Delhi Covid-19 tally

On Tuesday, in a record single-day spike, Delhi reported 1,298 fresh cases taking total tally to over 22,000 and the death toll due to the disease mounted to 556. The previous highest spike in fresh cases - 1,295 - was recorded on May 31. In a bulletin issued on Tuesday, the Delhi health department said the death toll due to coronavirus has risen to 556 in the national capital and the total number of cases has mounted to 22,132. It, however, added that the cumulative death figure only refers to fatalities where the primary cause of death was found to be COVID-19, according to a report of the Death Audit Committee on the basis of the case-sheets received from various hospitals.|

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